Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is an American professional
field lacrosse
Field lacrosse is a full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867. ...
league, composed of 8 teams. The league's inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major-market cities. The league was founded by the American professional lacrosse player
Paul Rabil
Paul Rabil (born December 14, 1985), is an American former professional lacrosse player and co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League. He played for the Cannons Lacrosse Club and Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League, as well as th ...
and his brother Mike Rabil. Investors include
The Chernin Group
TCG Capital Management, LP, Doing business as, d/b/a as TCG or The Chernin Group, is an American investment advisory firm focused on private equity investments in the media, entertainment, technology, sports and consumer and digital media sectors. ...
, The Raine Group and
Joe Tsai.
Founding
In September 2018, Bloomberg reported that
Paul Rabil
Paul Rabil (born December 14, 1985), is an American former professional lacrosse player and co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League. He played for the Cannons Lacrosse Club and Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League, as well as th ...
would be launching a new professional lacrosse league. The PLL would be a direct competitor to the more established
Major League Lacrosse
Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...
. The new league will provide professional lacrosse players with salaries, health care, and league equity.
The league's media model radically differs from that of most
North American professional sports leagues. A 2018 ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' story on the then-prospective league pointed out that
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...
'
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
account "features virtually no clips of him playing basketball—those are the property of the NBA, meaning its owners." By contrast, the PLL open-sources its highlights, allowing players to freely use them to build their own personal brands. Additionally, PLL operates a full-time studio that produces other player-centered content.
The PLL features eight teams, each with a 26-player roster. As opposed to tying teams to a specific market, the league tours 12 different "major market cities". The season includes 14 weeks, comprising 10 regular-season weekends, 1 all-star weekend, and 3 playoff weekends, running from June 1 through September 21, assuring there is no overlap with the
NCAA Lacrosse or
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
seasons.
By October 2018, 140 players had been signed by the PLL. Of the 140 players are 86 All-Americans, 25 members of the
U.S. national team, and 10 former
Tewaaraton Award
The Tewaaraton Award is an annual award for the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players, since 2001. It is the lacrosse equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. The award is presented by The Tewaaraton Foundation and ...
winners. By December the league had signed 17 additional players.
Draft
For the League's inaugural season, the PLL had the 6 founding teams draft a player in each of the 4 rounds. For the first round there was a random draw and the reverse the order every round. Archers had the first draft pick in the newly formed league, taking
Pat Spencer making him the first player ever drafted in the PLL.
Media and business partners
The league had an exclusive media rights agreement with
NBC Sports Group
NBC Sports Group is a division of NBCUniversal that is responsible for NBC Sports' media properties, encompassing the NBC television network's sports division as well as day-to-day operation of the company's sports-oriented cable networks and oth ...
, until 2022, when the league signed a new media rights deal with
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
.
The
IMG Academy
IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...
is the official Preseason Training Facility
Championis the exclusive footwear and apparel brand.
Capital One Bank will be the official bank sponsor for the entire PLL and the jersey patch sponsor for the Atlas LC. In February 2020,
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Entert ...
signed a deal with the PLL to become the official ticket sales company of the league, as well as having their name added to the league's name, making it "Premier Lacrosse League Powered by Ticketmaster". The PLL has an exclusive partnership with
DraftKings
DraftKings is an American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company. The company allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports–related contests and win money based on individual player performances in five major American ...
, covering betting on the league's matches. The league also partners with
Gatorade, as the beverage company acts as one of the league's founding sponsors. On July 22, 2021,
HEX Performance was named the 'official laundry partner' of the PLL.
Teams
Expansion
2020
The addition of the
Waterdogs Lacrosse Club
The Waterdogs Lacrosse Club is a professional men's field lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The Waterdogs are the first PLL expansion team set to play in the 2020 season. Players were selected through an expansion draft, new entr ...
, a seventh team for the 2020 season, allows for natural bye weeks to occur for each team throughout the season. Paul Rabil first hinted at expansion in a post game interview after the 2019 Championship game and on January 1, 2020 the Premier Lacrosse League announced the Waterdogs identity. An expansion draft took place on February 12 and an entry draft occurred on March 16 to build the new roster with veteran players.
2021
On December 16, 2020 it was announced that the PLL and MLL had
merged
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
under the banner of the PLL. The PLL would add the Boston Cannons for the
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
season, rebranded as the
Cannons Lacrosse Club
The Cannons Lacrosse Club are a professional men's field lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) . Formerly based in Boston, Massachusetts, they played in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) as the Boston Cannons from their inaugural 2001 sea ...
, to bring the total PLL teams to eight.
Small tweaks to the former Boston Cannons branding resulted in a PLL crest and logo reveal on January 12, 2021.
2022
In July of 2022, Ticketmaster tracked a 38% growth in tickets purchased and attendance. The PLL also announced the approved Series D round of funding for the league which was being led by return investor
The Chernin Group (TCG). Other investors include Blue Pool Capitol, Brett Jefferson,
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
, 35V,
Kevin Durant
Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...
,
Rich Klieman, Wheelhouse Entertainment, and Pomp Investments.
Championship history
Active Awards
Jim Brown Most Valuable Player
Eamon McEneaney Attackman of the Year
Gait Brothers Midfielder of the Year
Dave Pietramala
Dave Pietramala (born 1967) is the defensive coordinator for the Syracuse University Men's Lacrosse team and the former head coach for the Johns Hopkins University Men's Lacrosse team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defensemen in la ...
Defensive Player of the Year
Brodie Merrill
Brodie Merrill (born November 5, 1981) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player. He currently plays in the National Lacrosse League for the San Diego Seals and Premier Lacrosse League for the Cannons. Merrill is recognized by the Premier Lacross ...
Long Stick Midfielder of the Year
Paul Cantabene Faceoff Athlete of the Year
George Boiardi Short Stick Midfielder of the Year
Oren Lyons Goalie of the Year
Rookie of the Year
Dick Edell
Richard Irving Edell (1944 – May 2, 2018) was an American lacrosse coach. He served as the head coach for the University of Maryland, United States Military Academy, and University of Baltimore's men's lacrosse teams. Edell was inducted into the ...
Coach of the Year
Jimmy Regan Teammate of the Year
Brendan Looney Leadership Award
Dave Huntley Sportsmanship Award
Welles Crowther
Welles Remy Crowther (May 17, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was an American equities trader and volunteer firefighter known for saving as many as 18 lives during the September 11 attacks in New York City, during which he lost his own life.
Ear ...
Humanitarian Award
Hall of Fame
On February 15, 2022, the Premier Lacrosse League announced the inaugural class of the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame. In order to be eligible for selection, a player must:
* Be retired from professional play for at least three years
* Have played five seasons in MLL/PLL
* Be nominated by a member of the Hall of Fame committee and receive a 75 percent majority vote
The inaugural class was:
Attack
*
Jonathan McCabe
*
Casey Powell
Casey Powell (born February 18, 1976) is a Hall of Fame American former college and professional lacrosse player from West Carthage, New York. In 1998, he graduated from Syracuse University, where he was a four-time USILA All-American. Powell was ...
*
John Grant Jr.
John Christopher Grant Jr. (born November 7, 1974) is a Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player who has played in Major League Lacrosse, the National Lacrosse League, and the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Grant Jr. was named men's lacrosse Offen ...
*
Mark Millon
Mark Millon (born May 17, 1971) is a retired American lacrosse player who last played for the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse. He attended Harborfields Highschool in Huntington, Long Island. He played collegiate lacrosse at the Univer ...
Midfield
*
Gary Gait
Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...
*
Jay Jalbert
Jay Jalbert (born October 6, 1977) is an American Hall of Fame lacrosse player who had a standout collegiate career at the University of Virginia and then went on to play professional lacrosse in Major League Lacrosse and the National Lacrosse L ...
*
Matt Striebel
Matt Striebel (born January 12, 1979) is a former professional lacrosse midfielder who played professional field lacrosse in the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) for the New York Lizards and formerly played professional box lacrosse in the National La ...
Defense
*
Pat McCabe
*
John Gagliardi
John Gagliardi ( ; November 1, 1926 – October 7, 2018) was an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, from 1953 until 2012. From 1949 to 1952, he was the head footba ...
*
Nicky Polanco
Nicholas Polanco (born August 18, 1980) is an American former lacrosse player. He is regarded as one of the best defensemen in MLL (and professional lacrosse in general) history. He attended Oceanside High School.
Professional career
Polanco was ...
Goaltender
*
Brian Dougherty
Brian "Doc" Dougherty (born December 10, 1973) is a retired Hall of Fame American lacrosse goaltender. He attended The Episcopal Academy before attending University of Maryland. He is currently the head coach at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. ...
Specialist
*
Paul Cantabene
References
External links
Official website
{{Top sport leagues in the United States
Lacrosse leagues in the United States
Lacrosse leagues in Canada
Sports leagues established in 2018
Professional sports leagues in the United States
Professional sports leagues in Canada
Multi-national professional sports leagues
2018 establishments in North America